Chapter 14: Thinking of a Way
Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Thinking of a Way
Seeing Yu the Scholar become just like his parents, a realization began to dawn on Zhu Ge.
’I’m sure of it!’
’There really are two entities in the village!’
’One is an entity that makes people become rigid, yet allows them to retain some memories and the ability to move.’
’The other is that bizarre Wedding God.’
’Yu the Scholar, the man before him, was normal when the "Scholar" character was on his chest.’
’When he had that festive smile on his face, he was controlled by the Wedding God.’
’But now, this rigid state was clearly the work of the other entity!’
’And this is just a single village...’ Zhu Ge lamented internally.
"I’ll head back right now." Zhu Ge didn’t waste any more words with Yu the Scholar and turned to leave.
Just then, Yu the Scholar, who was behind him, suddenly let out a hoarse sound from his throat. "HURK... HURK..."
Zhu Ge turned his head and saw Yu the Scholar gasping for breath, the "Scholar" character on his chest flickering faintly.
"Go! Quickly!"
Yu the Scholar’s face was contorted in pain. "If you must, shout my name! I can burn my life force to wake up!"
’Burn his lifespan!’
Zhu Ge frowned. Before he could say anything, he saw the "Scholar" character on Yu the Scholar’s chest slowly begin to fade, so he immediately bolted out the door.
’So not everyone in the village has had their spirits stolen. At the very least, Yu the Scholar hasn’t.’
’If possible, I should save Yu the Scholar too...’ Zhu Ge’s heart grew heavy.
Ordinarily, Yu the Scholar was extremely strict.
The Teacher was as gentle as a loving mother, while Yu the Scholar was as stern as a harsh father.
The two of them were the village’s leaders, managing everything. The villagers provided for them, and in turn, they shouldered the responsibility for the village.
Now that disaster had struck, what Yu the Scholar was thinking was different from Zhu Ge’s thoughts.
Zhu Ge was thinking about how he could escape or save his own life.
But Yu the Scholar was thinking about how to save others.
This deeply moved Zhu Ge.
But it wasn’t long before he ran to his front door and saw his parents standing there. His heart instantly dropped with a thud.
Under the moonlight, his parents stood at the doorway like two statues carved from human flesh.
They stared at the approaching Zhu Ge with hollow eyes, not even blinking.
’This is bad!’
Zhu Ge’s pace slowed, his brow furrowed tightly.
’Leaving the house was bound to trigger some kind of anomaly.’
’But not leaving would have triggered an anomaly, too.’
’Stuck between a rock and a hard place!’
’All I can do now is take it one step at a time.’
Zhu Ge walked forward, fists clenched and thighs tensed, staring intently at his parents, ready to bolt at any moment.
’If it really comes down to it, I’ll just escape from Jianshan Village!’
’The forests and wilderness outside the village are even more dangerous, but at least there’s a chance of survival out there.’
’But if my spirit gets stolen, then it’s all over!’
To his surprise, his parents had no further reaction. They just watched him enter the house, motionless.
"THUD!"
His father closed the door, then said softly, "There is a god outside. Don’t go out recklessly. It’s dangerous."
After the door was closed, the old couple stood by the entrance, staring fixedly as Zhu Ge mechanically climbed into bed and lay down.
Only after he was lying down did Zhu Ge say in a mechanical voice, "There is a god outside. I know."
The old couple nodded, then mechanically returned to their own bed and lay down.
The room fell silent.
However, Zhu Ge’s mind was racing.
’They really don’t know!’
Zhu Ge understood.
When he had previously guessed it was the Tiger God, Zhu Ge knew that even the Tiger God couldn’t completely control all its Chong Ghosts, nor could it know their status at all times.
This was also why he hadn’t been discovered despite having broken free of its control.
’In that case, even if the people of Jianshan Village have had their spirits stolen, they must all be independent of each other.’
His return this time further confirmed his suspicions.
’After their spirits were stolen, these people, unlike those in the rumors, weren’t rigid and retained their ability to move.’
’But one thing they had in common with others whose spirits were stolen was that the god could only influence them to a certain extent. It couldn’t control them directly, much less command them with perfect ease.’
’At the very least, it couldn’t share their vision or control them remotely.’
This was the source of his confidence, why he dared to leave and dared to return.
And his parents’ reaction had just proved it!
After lying down, Zhu Ge settled on his plan for the next day.
’Keep searching until I find the shrine!’
The First Realm of the Divine is called the Shrine Prison Realm. Destroying a god’s shrine can kill it.
Beyond that, Zhu Ge knew of no other way to kill one.
’As for the Wedding God’s shrine, it’s obviously that wedding chamber.’
’All I need to do is destroy the wedding chamber, and the Wedding God will naturally be destroyed with it.’
But as for the other god, Zhu Ge was puzzled about its origins.
’If it’s the Tiger God, there’s no place in the village related to tigers.’
’If it’s not the Tiger God, then what kind of god could achieve such an effect?’
’Perhaps I should look for clues among the beings of the natural world?’
Zhu Ge suddenly remembered the origin of his Tiger God theory.
It came from the idiom "to be a Chong Ghost for a tiger," which described the ghost of someone killed by a tiger helping it hunt more victims.
’It seems now that it might not be the Tiger God. Could it be some other god?’
’What other creature could exert a controlling effect similar to the "Chong Ghost for a tiger" phenomenon?’
He racked his brain but couldn’t think of many possibilities, and none of them felt plausible.
In a daze, Zhu Ge fell into a deep sleep, only waking when a hen started to CLUCK CLUCK.
When he woke up, his body was in a state of extreme weakness.
After continuously consuming so much of his lifespan, his body couldn’t take it.
Logically, a person’s lifespan is the lifespan of their organs, cells, and so on.
His body originally could have lived for another fifty-plus years because his cells were still young.
Now, the System had burned his lifespan through some mysterious means to power the "Kunpeng," so naturally, his body was no longer young.
Although Zhu Ge looked like a young man in his late teens or early twenties, his organs and bones were already like those of a man in his forties or fifties.
Therefore, even though he forced himself up with sheer willpower this morning, the feeling of weakness and exhaustion in his body made his steps unsteady.
He walked out in silence and went to work in the fields.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but walking corpses.
Meanwhile, Hua Xiaomei, Yu the Scholar, and Ma Laizi didn’t appear before him all morning.
Zhu Ge could feel the deathly silence.
The entire village, aside from him, had had their spirits stolen.
Two gods, one in the south and one in the north, had occupied two areas, one large and one small.
In the larger area, walking corpses.
In the smaller area, festive celebration.
Only Zhu Ge and one-third of Yu the Scholar were still alive.
And they couldn’t leave the village.
’Can I really not leave?’
Zhu Ge’s eyes were bloodshot as his mind continued to follow the train of thought left behind from when he had used the Kunpeng’s power the previous night.
’I only have two choices now.’
’Either run, or stay in the village.’
’But the logic from every time I’ve used the Kunpeng’s power tells me that leaving is certain death!’
’The village only has two Shrine Prison Realm gods, but what about the outside?’
’They’re everywhere!’
’Demons, Ghosts, Spirits, and Monsters cover the land, and every region has been carved up into territories.’
’And in the eyes of the various other beings outside, Jianshan Village is actually the territory of some powerful entity.’
’That powerful entity is the Teacher.’
’The Teacher is away, but the "Scholar" character left behind serves as a deterrent and a warning.’
’So, by staying in Jianshan Village, I can at least catch my breath. What if the Teacher comes back tomorrow?’
’But if I go outside, I probably won’t even survive a day!’
’So I have to stay. Which means the most important question is still the same...’
’The shrine?’
’Speaking of which, what if I just set fire to all the houses and objects in the village?’
’Like, burn it all down?’